Is The Flash About To Introduce Velocity 9?

If there’s one thing that we know about The Flash it’s that speed plays a major part in the story. In addition to being the key to protagonist Barry Allen’s abilities, the series features both heroes and villains who are related to the Speed Force (and may have more to come).

Now, rumors suggest that there may be a new aspect of speed coming to the show. Not only could it help to restore one of the heroes so he can fight alongside Barry, it could also hint at future plot developments as well.

Teddy Sears, who plays Jay Garrick on the show, recently spoke with EW and gave away the following tidbit about where his character is headed next:

“Jay is summoned to S.T.A.R. Labs in an urgent matter from Wells. Jay shows up only to find out that Wells wants Jay to be his guinea pig. He is toying with a substance that has its history in the lore of The Flash, so it’s something from the comics. He wants to try it on Jay to see if it works because he wants to use this on Barry in their fight to bring down Zoom. Jay doesn’t react very well to that. He doesn’t want to be a part of Wells’ schemes. There will be some life threatening moments in there and we have to use a combination of science and ingenuity and Wells’ mysterious substance to get to a safe conclusion.”

ComicBook.com notes that, in the comics, there’s a drug known as Velocity 9 that was developed by villain Vandal Savage as a way for people to artificially tap in to the Speed Force. From the sound of Sears’ comment, the “substance” that Wells is working with could very well be this same drug.

Traditionally, Velocity 9 has had some pretty nasty side effects for those who take it because their bodies aren’t prepared for the stress of the Speed Force. Given Jay Garrick’s previous connection, though, the drug could be an effective way for him to get his powers back. It’s already been hinted that his powers would be restored soon, and giving in to Wells and playing the guinea pig might just be how that’s accomplished.

Garrick isn’t the only one who might benefit from Velocity 9. Wells’ daughter, Jesse Chambers Wells, is the Arrowverse version of Jesse Chambers a.k.a. the speedster Jesse Quick from the comics. Jesse Quick is the daughter of Johnny Quick in the comics, so could either Jesse or Wells (or both) use the formula at some point? The Flash family has enough room for multiple speedsters, so it’s entirely possible that the introduction of Velocity 9 could bring some of them to life.

Of course, there’s also the possibility that the darker aspects of Velocity 9 will show up as well. It’s unclear where Wells will get the “substance” he’s working with from, so there could be bits of Vandal Savage’s involvement carried over along with some of the side effects that would prevent it from being used too often as a plot device. Refinement of the substance (as occurred in the comics) could make it more dependable in the future if the producers decided to go that route.